


Kept

by glassgoblin



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 01:57:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4460930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassgoblin/pseuds/glassgoblin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by Ohdaito's In Fair Alexandria</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kept

**Author's Note:**

> I have been reading In Fair Alexandria, and my mind tends to go toward angst, so the thoughts of Eric being betrayed by his people and not knowing or communicating well with Aaron caught my attention and spun this up.

He had been tempted to think of it as a date. He hadn’t actually been out with anyone, for obvious reasons, since the beginning of the world’s end and it was flattering to be asked to dinner. Eric was as nervous as he might have been before a first date; worried that he didn’t have anything nice to wear and that after being mostly starved for so long he was too skinny. It was an awkward feeling, but at the same time he felt a little hope because there was something between them. He had felt it from the first moment they met, and he had this crazy hope that it meant something good.

Instead . . . he shook his head, clutching at his legs as he sat on the floor behind a chair. He couldn’t think of what he had done wrong, or what he had missed, but everything had been wrong from the moment he woke in the morning. So he went over the events, as much as he could remember them, over and over in his mind.

He had arrived a little early, so he offered to help set the table and finish the dinner prep. They talked and joked and enjoyed the grilled venison steaks and steamed vegetables, and had a few of the crafted beers that another resident made and traded. It was a good evening. He hadn’t felt as though he had drank too much, though they moved from dinner to making out on the couch awfully fast. It had been so long since anyone had touched him, it went to his head much like the alcohol.

They had ended up in a large bedroom, and he had wanted that. He wanted to be touched, and looked at as though he were still desirable. It had been such a long time, and it had felt so good. Eric couldn’t remember everything that had happened, though the pleasant soreness he woke with matched to a memory of being underneath Aaron as the other man gripped his hips and fucked him.

He had thought that it was a pleasant soreness until he realized that he was alone. The sheets were cool, and he had been alone for some time. He tried to push away the disappointment and had gotten up to use the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom. Finding an unopened toothbrush and folded towels he had taken a shower and brushed his teeth. He didn’t find his clothes from the night before though, and although he had thought that the bedroom was Aaron’s after looking in the drawers and closets he knew it wasn’t. Everything was empty. So he had put on the robe that had been left in the bathroom and tried to leave.

The door had been locked. His mind had gone blank with panic when he discovered that and he could tell that he had banged on it, trying to get someone’s attention, because there was a bruise along the side of his hand. But no one had come to let him out. He had gone back to the bed after a while, making it up before sitting on it. Time had passed and he had fallen asleep, but when he woke he checked the door again and it was still locked. The house was still silent.

He wasn’t ashamed that he had cried a little then, unsure of what was going on or what would happen to him. It was dark outside, and he hadn’t eaten anything all day. There was a glass in the bathroom and he had access to water, but he hadn’t wanted to move around too much. Eric couldn’t remember when he had felt so vulnerable, in a strange place with nothing but a robe to wear and no clue as to what would happen next.

Eventually he crawled under the covers and went back to sleep, hoping that he would be able to think of a way to get out the next day. He was still alone the next morning, waking when the sunlight crossed the bed, and the door was still locked when he tried it. That was when his imagination really kicked in and he started trying to find a reason for being locked in this bedroom without any clothes. He cried again, just a little, realizing that any hope he had that there was something between himself and Aaron was just stupid wishful thinking.

When he had been a child and had been scared of something he would find a small space, hidden behind furniture or doors, and he would sit there in the quiet and wait for things to get better. So that was what he did. He wrapped the robe around himself tightly and curled up on the floor behind the chair that was in the corner of the room, and he waited, biting his fingers and his lips to distract himself from the hunger that clawed at his stomach.

The patch of sunlight had crawled most of the way across the room when he heard the front door of the house open and slam shut, and he flinched back, hitting his head against the wall. He held his breath as the door to the bedroom opened and someone moved inside, “Eric?” It was Aaron and he sounded worried.

He could hear the bathroom light switch flick on and then off after a few seconds, and he moved out from behind the chair slowly, bracing himself on the wall as he stood.

“Eric! I knew you had to be in here since the door was still locked, but I was worried when I didn’t see you right away. Are you alright?” Aaron babbled a little, and he seemed nervous, reaching out and then stopping himself. Eric didn’t know what he was supposed to say, so he didn’t say anything and that seemed to make it worse.

He pressed himself against the wall as Aaron approached, “I am so sorry. I didn’t want you to leave, and then things happened and I couldn’t get back until just now. There is a danger to the community and I was needed. I hoped that you might be alright staying here.”

Eric shook his head slightly, trying to make sense of what he was being told. “I don’t understand.”

“I shouldn’t have left without saying anything, and I didn’t think about food. You must be hungry.” He stopped as Eric paled. “What is it?”

He gripped the edge of the robe, “What do I have to do for the food?”

“I don’t-“ Aaron frowned, shaking his head, “I don’t know what you mean. You don’t have to do anything for it, I just thought that you would be hungry.”

Eric laughed, humorlessly, “The last time you fed me you got to fuck me afterwards, so what do you want this time?” It was hard to talk around the lump that had formed in his throat and he could feel his eyes getting moist again. He couldn’t look at Aaron anymore though, and he flinched back as he was approached again.

Aaron had flushed and then paled, instantly feeling faint so that he had to sit on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t . . . I would never.” He had to take a deep breath, “I’m sorry that I gave you that impression. I don’t expect anything in return, but you could come out to the kitchen with me and I could make something. I had put your clothes in the wash, and I have something else you can wear if they aren’t ready.” He sounded calm, but the look on his face was devastating, and Eric almost felt guilty for putting it there. Almost.

“I don’t know what else I was supposed to think. I woke up, alone, locked in this room with nothing to tell me why. I had thought-“ Eric stopped himself, looking away from Aaron again, “I was just stupid to think that this place would be any different.” He pushed himself away from the wall. “I want my clothes.”

“Okay, I’ll go get them.” Aaron stood, and paused before taking his first step. “Would you stay and have dinner?”

Eric thought for a moment, “I don’t know if that would be a good idea. I just want my clothes and my gun.”

“Are you going to shoot me for locking you in here?” He sounded as though he were actually worried about that, but Eric just shook his head again.

“No.”

“Are you going to shoot someone else?” Aaron took a step away from the bed, heading for the door.

“Maybe.” It was something that had crossed his mind a few times while traveling to Alexandria, and several times before he had ever been given the gun. Maybe it would be for the best.

“Who?” Aaron looked as though he knew the answer already, and it was hurting him to ask the question.

It was hard to answer the question too, and Eric felt the tears that had been welling in his eyes fall down his cheek finally, “Me.” He flinched back as Aaron took three steps across the room and gathered him into a hug, “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Please don’t, please, just give me another chance. Please. I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you or scare you. I had no intention of leaving you alone for so long or I would never have left the door locked, please Eric, stay here. Stay with me. I promise, I would never hurt you again.” Aaron was clutching at him, desperately, and for a moment he wanted to push the other man away and leave, but just as suddenly his whole body relaxed into the embrace and he found himself clutching at Aaron just as desperately.


End file.
